I am not a hiker. I am not a mountain climber, a marathon runner, a gym rat or an adventurist. And yet, something calls me to explore places so difficult to reach, they are on the “Top 10 most dangerous places to fly into” and take plenty of exertion to get to the top of whatever peak their holiest sites are located.

I am a survivor.  I have experienced something many call a near death experience, coupled with some phenomena which has yet to be scientifically explained. The NDE is not what drove me to seek out these far-off lands. I have been experiencing extra sensory perceptiveness since I was 10 years old.  I have met with Rabbis, Turkish coffee-readers, mediums, Opus Dei elite, parapsychologists, Santeras, psychics and other spiritualists.  I have spoken with MDs, PhDs, Astrophysicists and therapists to attempt to understand what many cannot because “maybe science has not caught up with it yet.”  I have learned a great deal from Western perspective.  But at some point, when I could afford it, I wanted to branch out beyond the United States.

It’s not in search of G-d. I have a strong faith and foundation with my Jewish upbringing. What drives me to go visit Shamans in rural Mexico, Kabbalists in Tzfat, Israel or Taoist priests in WuDang, China, is the same thing which brought me last week to Bhutan.

I want a “basic” understanding of what other cultures believe when it comes to the mystical side of life. The many ways we as a Western civilization talk about “spirituality,” the sixth sense, “gifts”, visions, intuition, seers, I needed to know how other cultures felt regarding those topics.  How they dissect them when they happen to their everyday citizen.  What they have been taught. How accepting would they be when foreigners bring up the subject? What their healing practices are? Is there a way to learn what the heck is going on in my own mind, body and soul?!

To my surprise, many cultures 1000% believe everything I experience as a matter of FACT. They have seen spirits, experienced the “unexplainable,” personally, for generations, and they do not seek the HOW IS THIS HAPPENING, like I have been my entire life. Many just roll their eyes at me and say “Stephanie, of course this is real. Why are you wasting your time with silly questions?”

Bhutan was no exception. A kingdom located in the Southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas, landlocked in South Asia.  It borders Tibet and has NEVER BEEN COLONIZED. It is a Buddhist country. With a population of under a 1 Million. And even though their biggest export is electricity, its people are proud they value their Gross National Product as GNH. Gross National Happiness. The vibration there is pleasant and the people are all smiles. Even the stray animals were chillin. A cow drank from our pool and came over to lick my face. Not all are happy, I think it is an ideology many would like to follow. It is a place where time almost stands still.  Where monasteries, untouched landscapes and sacred spaces (more than 2000 B.C. years old) are the reasons many make the trek to this place.

I, like many others seeking more enlightenment, enjoyed many of the attractions but there were two moments in my 10 day trip which helped me see the “light” in a different way.

First, we met with a reincarnated monk. How do we know he is a reincarnated monk? (Yes, I asked the obvious question) Well, as an example how they figure out who is who, the future Abbott of Bhutan had come to a monastery when he was 4 years old.  He told the head monk he “built this place”. The monk being skeptical, put the 4 year old through many tests.  One of which was placing objects from the time period he says he was from, mixed in with antiquities and present-day lookalikes, in front of him to choose the ones he would have used in the 16th century.  Hundreds of objects. Tools, prayer beads, etc.  Every single time, he chose the artifact which was correct. Again, he was 4 years old.  He is now being groomed to take over as the “chief” Abbott of Bhutan in the not so distant future.

The monk we met with was no different.  Although he will not be the chief,  he has been reincarnated from one of the messengers who lived centuries ago.  This monk laughed when I asked him about the sixth sense.  Not in a condescending way, but in a “why would you waste any time on the sixth sense?”

He explained, “The sixth sense is medical. It is science. It is the mind. It is obvious.”  Ok, not so much in the U.S. but I kept listening. “What you experienced is the SEVENTH SENSE!” WTH.. #mindblown. I have never heard of the 7th Sense. Google here I come.  (It does not go into the accurate detail one would think). He described the “seventh sense” as what we describe intuition and extra sensory perceptions coming from outside of our bodies. A spiritual event where you are getting a signal. The Universe coming to you through a clear channel directly to your soul. And it is very real. (I will go into more detail in a later blog or Live chat).

The next experience would take me over the edge. Not literally, although there were times I could have fallen off a narrow ledge on the hike to Tiger’s Nest.  Paro Taktsang or Tiger’s Nest as outsiders call it, is one of the holiest sites Bhutan has and the #1 tourist attraction. It is a monastery clinging onto the side of a cliff.  Located 10,000 feet above sea level, it is not the easiest climb up OR DOWN for the average human. (Again, not a mountain climber).

It is said the Second Buddha flew on a Tiger “concubine” into this cave and meditated for months, fighting off demons and coming out delivering Buddhism to the people of Bhutan.

When we finally arrived after a 3 hour hike, we were told to store all of our belongings, including phones and cameras as we could not take any photos inside.

Our guide asked if I wanted to take a break and meditate, so I found a corner in a small space where no tourists were at the time. I sat down and began to cry uncontrollably almost immediately. I felt a heaviness in the room. I felt pain and suffering.  And an overwhelming sadness.

About 10 minutes later, the guide came back asking if he could meditate with me.  I agreed and asked if he wanted to “feel” what I was feeling.  My intuition told me to do something in order to have him feel and I did it.  And after I was done, I took back the pain, but he looked drained from what he had just experienced. He looked at me, shaking his hands out and rolling his neck saying “That was HEAVY.”

Buddhism believes in reincarnation. You suffer in this lifetime and learn from it, be grateful for it, so you can live a happier life in the next lifetime. So I am not surprised people come to this sacred spot to meditate their sorrows into the “nest” which holds their pain so they can leave it behind. And also not surprised I could feel it.

On our return, he told others that I was a “dalom”. A person who has died and come back in their own body with messages to give. Buddhism rarely talks about people who have flatlined and come back. The period between death and rebirth for Buddhists is 49 days, not 37 Seconds. I will delve into this more at a later date.

I have been searching for the HOW my entire life and it has only gotten more intense since I crossed that infamous flatline. Learning and studying, traveling and speaking to others helped me dissect my world around me, but at some point, I needed to stop running away from it, stop proving it and just accept all of it as a matter of fact, the way these other cultures do.

I am committed to doing this as of today.  Thankful, this Thanksgiving for the opportunities to visit all of these incredible places. Thankful for the journey, because I am alive to do it.  And the most enlightened piece I took away from this trip was:

 I don’t need to leave my backyard to learn any of this. It was in my capacity to understand it all along so long as I could accept it.

If you are looking for acceptance in all you sense to be validated by everyone, it ain’t ever gonna happen.  You may never get the science to explain your faith, convictions and the “seventh sense,” but they should never be discounted, because others do not accept them. You feel things. You have witnessed miracles. Learning to say something when you sense something, will open the doors for others to do the same. The conversation has begun. And those you would never think in a million years would understand, will engage.  

I had preconceived notions because someone was too “sciency”. I had been intimidated because someone had PhD letters next to their name.  And I have been surprised time and time again, I was being “silly,” because they had experienced some level of phenomena in their lifetime.

We shouldn’t make the same mistake again.

Our tribe happens to be very large, and this trip just confirmed it for me.

Have a beautiful week ahead.

Stephanie